By means of computer simulation of test responses, the reliability of item analysis data and the accuracy of equating were examined for hypothetical samples of 250, 500, 1000, and 2000 subjects for two tests with 20 equating items plus 60 additional items on the same scale. Birnbaum's three-parameter logistic model was used for the simulation. The…

The ratings of 43 third-year medical students were used to investigate a method of computing the reliability of ratings. The students were evaluated on a four-point rating scale along seven dimensions of clinical ability: diagnostic ability; motivation; sense of responsibility; oral-verbal ability; effectiveness with patients; ability to take a…

This paper presents results of a generalizability assessment of two sets of scales designed to evaluate the quality of verbal and nonverbal interactions between parent and child. The Nursing Child Assessment Feeding Scale (NCAFS) and Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scales (NCATS) were developed as part of a longitudinal study aimed at…

In 1970, at the request of the School Board, the Minneapolis Public Schools began a review of the school district's goals. Several approaches to establishing and revising goals were used. By January 1974, 1,506 people in Minneapolis had participated in the goals ranking procedure. This group included 630 community representatives, 569 school…

The following problems in the field of essay grading have persisted: (1) low reliability of grading, (2) deciding upon elements or variables to consider, and (3) deciding on the weight to assign to each variable. Described are two aspects of a study on essay grading at the high school level in Alberta, Canada: (1) the reliability of scoring…

This social studies unit uses conflicting eyewitness and secondary accounts of what happened in Lexington, Massachusetts, on April 19, 1775, to illustrate the nature and methods of history and to encourage the student to function as an historian. Sections of the unit (1) introduce problems faced by historians by focusing on documentary materials…

This paper describes Project on Involvement, which was designed to investigate student involvement in a task by defining it in terms of nonverbal behaviors and by identifying its dimensions. To accomplish these objectives, eight trained graduate students made 15-minute observations of each of 44 preschool children. The children were observed in…

The purpose of this study was to collect data on behavior, including educational media usage, in a wide range of educational settings through use of participant observation. Eight special education teachers and their classrooms were used. An instrument adapted from the OSTRAQ system was used to measure 12 categories of pupil-teacher interaction…

The extent of error likely to occur with each of several approximations for the standard deviation, internal consistency reliability, and the standard error of measurement is analyzed. Approximations were compared with exact statistics obtained on 85 different classroom tests constructed and administered by professors in a variety of fields. Means…

This description of the project includes background, overview, and a detailed report of procedures used to collect, handle, and analyze the data. The appendix includes a sample teacher/student critical incident form and suggestions for interviewers of teachers, students, and parents. (MS)

Criteria are proposed and discussed for the choice of descriptors to be used in developing task analyses for use in vocational educational planning. In order to examine the possibilities of achieving stable ratings in some suggested job aspects (categories), a work operation (shortwood logging) is analyzed into 17 units which in turn are described…

It is argued that educational evaluation can productively proceed from an artistic model as well as a scientific one. For such a model two processes are critical. The first of these is called "educational connoisseurship," the second "educational criticism." Educational connoisseurship is that art concerned with the appreciation of any set of…

Stable factors of student ratings of teachers have been found under a variety of settings. The author suggests that these factors are artifacts of the raters' implicit categories of teaching behaviors and are not necessarily reflective of the behaviors themselves. (JKS)

Discusses the flaws in online catalogs that lead to ineffective library use, including confusing subject access, outmoded classification systems, lack of authority control, split files and closed catalogs, lack of both menu and command modes, and lack of circulation information. Recommendations are made for improving library catalogs. (EM)

Studied how individuals test hypotheses about themselves. Examined extent to which Snyder's bias toward confirmation persists when negative or nonconsistent personal hypothesis is tested. Found negativity or positivity did not affect hypothesis testing directly, though hypothesis consistency did. Found cognitive schematic variable (vulnerability…